Taco, bike shops attract large number of teens

MENIFEE -- A sidewalk turf war is simmering at a Newport Road
shopping center, where a youthful crowd of bike and skateboard
riders who gather for a restaurant's "Taco Tuesdays" has prompted
complaints.

Some shop employees and customers allege groups of teens block
access to the businesses in the Albertsons center at the northeast
corner of Newport and Murrieta Road, and that they intimidate
customers, litter, fight and present a danger to pedestrians when
they ride and do tricks on the sidewalk.

The manager of an office at the center said 15 to 50 teens
gather there each Tuesday after school.

One boy recently rode his bike off the walkway into the side of
a woman's parked truck, Tarbell Real Estate office manager Cathi
Rainier said.

"It's horrible; it really is," Rainier said. "They hang out on
the walkway and aren't really polite about moving. There are a few
of them who are just so disrespectful that it's like, where are the
parents of these kids?

"I've been in this office for five years and I don't remember it
not being a problem. It's going to take somebody really getting
hurt and the property manager being sued before anything gets done
about it."

The teens, however, are quick to say they readily move aside
when asked to do so, though they admit that some of them do tricks
on and from the sidewalk.

But they do their best to stay out of the way of pedestrians,
said Chase Law, 15, who rides a motorcross-style bike. He and
others mentioned the impending Oct. 1 incorporation of Menifee as a
possible catalyst for providing more recreational opportunities for
youth.

"We need a skate park," Law said. "(When) we are a city, maybe
we'll get one."

Another bike rider added that people are too quick to criticize
them.

"I think the people who talk to us don't have enough to do,"
said 16-year-old Wesley McGill.

Last Tuesday, a sheriff's deputy arrived and told a group of
youngsters sitting in front of the Mexican restaurant Mi Pueblo to
move the bikes scattered at their feet.

The department has received complaints from businesses, Deputy
Sean Conwell told them.

"You can't have bikes on the sidewalk and you need helmets,"
Conwell said.

A few customers at the center said the teens are a nuisance, and
one woman who declined to give her name said the businesses should
not tolerate them. Others said they just ask them to move.

"Usually, at least one will acknowledge that an old guy needs to
come through," said Chris Redding, 49, of Sun City. "But it's gotta
bug the merchants."

Sun City Bicycles is also adjacent to Mi Pueblo and draws some
bike riders.

Shop owner Craig Cooper said the issue is overblown and has died
down since school started.

"It's kids being kids and if you put them all on the sidewalk,
it's just hard to get around," Cooper said. "Most of these kids
would jump through hoops for you if you ask them respectfully."